35 questions to ask after school
Because it's not always easy to get them talking

When they are back home from school (already ?!), we “like” to know what our children did all day. This will not however be that interesting to be totally honest, but we, as parents, sometimes, have to pretend to care about what’s going on in their life. We did make them for something.

I don’t know about you, but I often get answers like :

1. Nothing.
2. I don’t know.
3. I don’t remember.

Maybe they understood that I was only half interested. I doubt that, they are not that smart.

So here is a list of 35 questions to ask your children so that they have to tell us a little bit more ! And if you play the part right, you can even make them think you are a little excited about getting all this info.

A word of advice :

• Depending on their mood, it is best to wait a little before questioning the hell out of your kids. We all know how are kids when they are hungry…
• It’s also recommended to know at least one of their favorite subjects in school. It helps in getting answers. My son likes math so he will definitely talk more if I have math-related questions.
• For a kindergartener or preschooler, or even a 1st grader, the easiest questions are those related to numbers, colors, or basic emotions.
• It will be more useful to ask questions that are positive and open (lead to a sentence as an answer rather than a yes/no). Closed questions still allow you to ask “why”.

Overall day :

• Who was late ? That one is pretty nice for those of us who are not always the first ones to arrive.
• Who was absent ?
• What made you laugh ? made you angry ?
• What annoyed you ? What did you enjoy ?
• Did something make you sad ?
• Did you help a friend ?
• Did you celebrate a birthday ?
• What was the best thing today ?
• Who was the funniest today ?
• Who got an earful from the teacher ?
• What were the 5 best moments of your day ?
• What was your favorite moment ?
• My day was an A+, how was yours ?

Classroom activities :

• Did you make anything for *next holiday to celebrate* ?
• What did you make me ? Pretty good for making your kid feel guilty for not even giving you a drawing – that you will throw in the garbage anyway.
• What book did the teacher read ?
• What book did you read ?
• What did you learn in math, English..etc? Not all subjects, as you could annoy your child as a result. Or die from boredom.
• Teach me something I don’t know.
• What was the best thing you learned today ?

Lunchbreak :

• What colors were in your plate ?
• Who did you eat with ?
• Was there a lot of noise in the cafeteria ? That’s one complaint I hear a lot from my kids “so much noise at lunchtime, I have a headache”. But they never learn their lesson though, because it ain’t quiet at home.
• Did you eat all of your dessert ?
• Did you like the *name any meal*? Unless you are super lucky (could happen today, it is Friday the 13th) the meal won’t be the one your child ate, so he will automatically correct you. Kids love correcting their parents, don’t they ? I have no idea where they get that from.

Recess :

• Who did you play with ?
• What did you do ?
• Did you see *your brother, sister, cousin, your friend such and such* ?

Funny questions :

• Who farted ?
• Who picked his nose ? I got a lot of valuable information with that one…
• But why did you go to school today !?
• Did you like it when *invent an extraordinary story* ? When Bambi came to say hi, when the princess transformed you all into toads, when the witch made you drink that magic potion…
• What was the weirdest or funniest thing your heard today ?

As planned, now they can’t stop talking and telling you all about their riveting stories….You are….welcome ?